"Pick up, pick up, pick up, pi—"

"Keith?"

"Shiro, he's here. He said it," Keith replied in a rush.

There was a loud rustling noise on Shiro's end of the phone call before — "You heard it? You found him?"

"I guess?"

"You guess? What's his name? Wait, what did you say back? What did your words end up being?"

"My words?"

"Keith?"

"I don't —"

"Keith. You said something in return, right? Or did you speak first?"

"….No?"

"I really don't know why I let you go anywhere by yourself."

"Hey, I told you I didn't want to come to this training camp."

"That camp is a great opportunity, and you know what? No — I'm not having this argument with you again."

Keith huffed into the phone and glanced over his shoulder to where the coaches still remained in a huddle. As soon as they'd been released for a water break, he'd dug his phone out of his bag in order to quickly call Shiro to share in his panic.

"Keith." Shiro's voice rumbled in that same reassuring tone he'd used in the past to convince thirteen year old Keith that he was definitely staying with the Shiroganes from then on. That he wasn't transferring schools again, so it was okay to try out for the high school's soccer team. It was the tone that encouraged him again and again to try to make friends on the team. That same damn tone was the one that had convinced him that it was a good thing that he had been recruited for this elite training camp.

It was the tone of voice that Keith desperately needed to hear now.

Because Keith had just met his soulmate. And apparently he'd already fucked it up.

"I've already fucked it up."

"No, this is fine, Keith. You just go back over to him and say something."

"I can't just walk up to him and start randomly talking to him now, Shiro."

"Just don't say something super generic, like hi," Shiro continued as if Keith hadn't spoken. "Make it memorable."

Keith groaned into the phone.

"Compliment his shirt."

Keith glanced over his shoulder again, but this time it was to eye the tall and extremely handsome soccer player who'd approached him when he'd first arrived on the field earlier. Only, when the guy's eyes found his as well, Keith whipped back around to stare up at the bleachers.

"His shirt says 'Play the field', Shiro."

"Sense of humor. That's a good sign already."

"I don't think this is how it works. You're not supposed to choose what your first words are. They're supposed to be — natural."

"Wait, wait, Keith — Keith — are you secretly a romantic?"

Keith groaned again.

"For the love of all good things, just go talk to him."

"The coaches are calling us back."

"Go talk to —"

Keith stuffed his phone back in his bag and jogged over to where the coaches were beginning to call out names. It looked like they were splitting them into different groups based on their positions, and he watched as his supposed soulmate pulled on goalkeeper gloves and headed towards one of the goals with a coach and two other keepers.

The grief he felt at being suddenly apart from a stranger was new, but this did give him a bit of breathing room. Maybe he should put some thought into what his first words could be.

Or… he could get lost in the footwork and passing drills the coaches had him run through with the other players. Being on the field had always calmed him, and he relied on the familiarity, even if the coaches and other guys were all strangers, to help him relax now.

When everyone else was released for the day, Keith was kept back. Training camp had actually begun the day before, but he couldn't fly in until that morning, and the camp manager wanted to review the schedule, the map of the campus where they were staying, and hand over his dorm key.

Keith was jet-lagged and desperate for a shower. Oh, and still slightly overwhelmed from meeting his soulmate, who he'd had to watch disappear around a corner earlier when the manager had called him over.

He'd come to the fields directly from the airport, so he stuffed the schedule and map into his suitcase when he was finally sent in the direction of their assigned dorm building. When he found his assigned room, he briefly thought about knocking, since his roommate was likely already settled, but he refused to stand in the hallway weighed down by his luggage any longer than he had to be.

He unlocked the door and pushed himself into the room.

And then immediately froze when his soulmate turned at his entrance and smiled brightly at him.

"Hey, man."

Keith let his soccer bag slide off his shoulder and hit the ground.

"When I saw you arrive earlier, I actually thought you might be my missing roommate," the guy said with a chuckle, blue eyes bright and focused on Keith as he continued speaking. His hands were full of clean clothes, likely to bring into the attached bathroom for a shower, but he adjusted so he could extend a hand to Keith. "Sorry I didn't get to actually introduce myself."

Keith took the extra step required to fully enter the room and the door swung shut behind him. He let his hand be enclosed within long brown fingers and held on tight for the handshake, allowing himself a moment to just stare at their combined hands.

He thought he'd have more time than this to come up with something to say to his soulmate, and while this surprise gave him another chance at a more natural, spontaneous meeting, he quickly bit back the 'Uh' that he almost released. No way was he letting his first words be something as dumb and indistinct as uh.

"What school are you from?" Keith forced out a second later.

"Altea. You?"

Keith searched the other's face. His grin was still just as wide, blinding even. But his face was otherwise unchanged, as if Keith's words didn't mean anything.

Had Keith actually said the wrong words?

A few seconds later and his soulmate's mouth quirked in amusement as those blue eyes dropped down to their still joined hands. Keith quickly pulled his hand back, practically heaving his entire body back a step with the motion, leading him to stumble over the bag he'd already dropped. He was only saved from hitting the door behind him by strong hands grabbing his shoulders and planting him back on his feet.

"Whoa, you okay?"

Keith could feel warm tingles race across his skin as his face flushed. Hopefully this guy thought it was embarrassment from almost tripping and not the crushing disappointment that he had either found his soulmate and it was unrequited, or he'd actually said the wrong words and fucked up their first meeting.

How on Earth had he managed to fuck up his first words?

He nodded in response to the question, not trusting his voice.

"Okay, well, uh, I was just about to jump in the shower, but do you want to go first? You've probably had a longer day than me with travel, huh?"

Keith glanced at the clothes the other guy was already holding. "Uh, no. You go ahead. You're already…" he waved a hand helpfully "and I need to unpack some stuff." His voice was not shaking, despite the questioning raised eyebrow he received as the other guy's eyes searched his face.

The guy nodded before disappearing into the bathroom, and Keith forced himself to suck in some air when he realized that he had stopped breathing. His head whipped towards the bathroom when the door suddenly reopened and his roommate stuck his head back into the room.

"I still didn't manage to introduce myself. I'm Lance McClain."